Preformed floor construction for buildings



wn iz zz /arezz Dec. 23, 1941. H. HASENBURGER ETAL.

PREFORMED FLOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR BUILDINGS Filed April 4, 1940 Patented Dec. 23, 1941 PREFORMED FLOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR BUILDINGS Henry Hasenburger, Newark, N. J., and Harvey Wiley Corbett, New York, N. Y., assignors to Prebilt Housing Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Ohio Application April 4, 1940, Serial No. .'i2'l',840v

2 Claims.

This, invention relates to building construction and, more particularly, to an improved flooring and means for securing the same with underlying supporting members. In certain of its more specific aspects, the invention has to do with prefabricated building construction in which the essential elements of a residential or other type of building are formedor produced by factory methodsvand merely assembled or united in proper order at the time of building erection. The present invention deals particularly with a prefabricated type of building wherein the essential elements, such as the flooring and frame structures are composed principally of wood. In this respect, it is one of the purposes of the invention to provide a prefabricated type of building, with inherent manufacturing and assembling economies, wherein the building, when completed, will present to a very large degree the conventional appearance provided by ordinary cr customary methods of construction.

In a residential building, particularly, soft or hardwood floors are deemed by many to be quite desirable. Heretofore, such floors have been formed by interfitting tongued and grooved strips cut by carpenters at the time of building erection into desired lengths, relatively interfitted and individually nailed to underlying joist members. Such operations are, of course, relatively slow and costly to perform and to do not coordinate with the theories underlying prefabricated housing construction. As a result, in more prefabricated types of building, specially designed floors are provided which, often, are objectionable from the standpoint of appearance and do not lend themselves readily to the employment of conventional floor covering thereon.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the present invention to provide tongued and grooved flooring of a preformed construction well adapted for factory production systems, convenient to transport and capable of being quickly and securely placed on and connected with underlying floor joists without involving customary nailing operations.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of hardwood flooring wherein the tongued and grooved strips of such flooring are secured together by factory methods of manufacture to produce panel sections of predetermined dimensions, the said sections being of such dimensions that the same may be readily handled during transportation and placement associated therewith by which said sections may be secured as units to underlying joist members.

For a further understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse sectional View taken through the floor structure of a building and disclosing the improvements, comprising the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view on an enlarged scale showing one of the flooring panels and the means for connecting the same with a floor supporting joist;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the flooring on the plane indicated by the line I[I-III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of one of the flooring panels or sections;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing in separated order the elements of the metallic fastening means used in fastening the flooring to underlying joists.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I designates a soft or hardwood floor-forming section or panel I. Each of these sections or panels comprises a plurality of conventional floor strips of the type indicated at 2, each strip having one edge thereof grooved as at 3 to receive an interfitting tongue 4 formed with the adjoining edge of the next adjacent strip. These strips are nailed or otherwise secured to an underlying frame composed of a pair of spaced, parallel, longitudinally extending bars 5 and a plurality of shorter, relatively spaced, transversely extending bars 6, said bars being recessed as at 1 to receive each other and provide a rigid framework. By this construction, floor sections or panels are produced which may be conveniently handled or compactly grouped for storage or transportation purposes.

These preformed floor panels are then delivered to the building site and relatively placed in floor-forming order. Thus, the panel sections are laid on the upper edges of a plurality of horizontally extending floor joists 8. To secure the panel sections to the joists 8, the bars 5 have suitably secured thereto a plurality of angle brackets 9. Each of these brackets includes a vertically depending leg [0 which terminates in a hook-shaped flange l I.

Cooperative with each of the brackets 9 and stationarily secured to a side face of a joist 8 is a metallic anchoring plate [2, the upper lonoperations and have improved fastening means gitudinal edge of the latter being formed with a hook-shaped flange l3, disposed in complemental relation to the flange H, except that the flange ll extends at an acute angle with respect to the flange [3, as shown more particularly in Fig. 2. The flanges II and I3 of each fastener assembly slidably receive a runner M, the longitudinal edges of which are beaded to receive the flanges II and [3, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. The beaded upper edge of each of the runners conforms in angularity to the, flange ll While the beaded lower edge of each. s

runner conforms with the flange 13. The flanges of said joist below and in spaced relation fromsaid bracket, the upper edge of said plate being formed with a hook-shaped flange, and a sliding wedge member having beaded longitudinal edge portions disposed for wedging engagement with said hook-shaped flanges.

2. In flooring construction, a plurality of spaced floor joists, a floor-forming panel posi- II and I3 thus constitute a wedge so that when tioned on said joists, bracket members secured to the under side of said panel and extending below the upper surface of said joists when the panel is positioned thereon, said brackets being disposed adjacent to one side of at least one of said joists and operating to locate said panel with respect to said joists, said brackets having hook-shaped flanges at their lower edge por- Moreover, the operations'may be i tions, flanged plate means secured to said joists in substantial registration with the brackets on said panels, the flanges on registering brackets and plates being angularly disposed with 'relation to one another, and Wedge members having hook-shaped edge flanges formed for engagement with the flanges on said plates and brackets, said wedge members being movable to clampingly secure said panel tosaid joists.

HENRY HASENBURGER. HARVEY WILEY I CORBETT. 

